A Federal Government team from Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has visited Afikpo South Local Government Area of EbonyiState to investigate discovery of crude oil in the area.

The preliminary report has already been taken to Abuja for confirmation of its findings.

State Commissioner for Cement Production and Mineral Development, Sunday Ugwuocha, who revealed this, noted that in a bid to shore up the internally generated revenue of the state, the state government, in conjunction with the Federal Government team, visited the potential crude oil site dug in 1928 for further investigation.

Ugwuocha, who stated this on Monday during an interactive session with stakeholders from Inyiba community in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state where the State is presently carrying out core drilling of limestone, said the preliminary result of the investigation has been submitted to the Federal Government.

According to the commissioner, “geologists from the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development were in the state recently to carry out preliminary investigations on the oil well that was dug in Edda community in 1928, the State government was still waiting for the outcome of the ministries’ investigations.

“The investigation if positive will place Ebonyi as one of the oil producing states in the country.

“This development has been there since 1928, Eddah people has been making presentation to the Federal Government to come and investigate the well dug but we are happy that today a team from the Federal Government has finally come and we believe that something meaningful will come out of there investigation”.

The commissioner, who warned the people of Inyiba not to allow themselves to be used by some selfish individuals in the area to forment trouble that will delay the core drilling process going on in the area, pointed out that compensation will soon be paid to deserving members of the community after evaluation process by the state Ministry of Land and survey.

“Government will not sit back and watch you being bought over to subvert government development activities.“The state has commenced investigation and exploration to unravel the quantity of crude oilin Afikpo South and coal in Afikpo North”, he said.

Responding, a member of the community, Theophilus Nwanga, commended the transparency of the government in the industrialisation process, adding that the cement project will lead to creation of jobs for the teeming youths in the area and the state in general, even as he assured of the safety of the explorers and their equipments.

There is no doubt that virtually all the SE states have oil in commercial quantities. But bad politics of past governments did not allow this to be officially acknowledged. Or how else can one explain that fact that a community claim of oil discovery since 1928 is just been given serious attention now? This is also one of the reason why GEJ administration will always be supported by rationale people. It listens and makes the effort to correct past injustices at the very least.

Wrong sir. Oil was first discovered in Oloibiri in 1956. I worked with SPDC fairly long enough to know that. Maybe the oil you speak of is Palm Oil

I wouldn't declare you a hater because you probably lack the knowledge. Oil was 1st struck in Edda but was declared as not commercial. The next place was Owerri which was also declared as non-commercial. Oloibiri and Owaza were struck almost at the same time in the mid 50s and were declared as commercial. Why was Oloibiri and Owaza commercially viable? The deposit was large and it required less investment in pipelines to Bonny. If you can lay your hands on documents that pre-date 1970, you would know this. The civil war led to a lot of cover ups and twist of history.

ebere1712: We should wait until we divide this shithole before we start mining.

Get your mind off oil if you really want to develop.

Take a look at this simplistic twisted history that is now given

PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION

Historically, the Nigerian petroleum scene opened as far back as 1908, when a German company, the Nigerian Bitumen Corporation, was attracted to what is now known as the south-western Nigerian Tar Sand deposit. After World War 1, Shell-D'Arcy, a consortium of Shell and Royal Dutch, resumed oil exploration in 1937, this time in Owerri, on the northern frame of the Niger Delta. On June 5, 1956, after drilling 28 wells and 25 core holes, all dry, the new operator, Shell-BP, struck oil at Oloibiri in what is now Bayelsa State.

We should remove our minds completely from oil cos as we re discovering more oil here in Nigeria, so also are other countries discovering more in their lands.

Mozambique,Uganda,Ghana,etc are few African countries I can remember that have started oil exploration. World biggest economy (US) have started reducing their dependence on foreign oil and they also have oil rich neighbour Canada. Oil in not too distant future will be sold @ less than $10 per barrel (I may be exaggerating abit).

well as i said b4 we never depend on oil even thou we are surrounded with oil and gas. One thing for sure is that their are still big appetite for oil especially Asian giant economy's it will take a while b4 oil becomes less dependent

Ebonyi is a blessed state to the Easterners with alot of so many natural mineral resources begging for govt attention,if only all the SE states can team-up and re-invest in Nkalagu Cement Industry(Nigercem) with desire to help Ebonyi govt and SE in general because as things stand now the state govt alone with the kind of people ruling the state cannot do much needed work there.

As for oil.The oil deposit at Edda and its enviro has been there for God knows when with little or no attention being giving to it...,so,we are not much intrested in oil exploration anymore(just like many other people above had mention) because so many other natural gift abound in state.

Ozonna: We should remove our minds completely from oil cos as we re discovering more oil here in Nigeria, so also are other countries discovering more in their lands.

Mozambique,Uganda,Ghana,etc are few African countries I can remember that have started oil exploration. World biggest economy (US) have started reducing their dependence on foreign oil and they also have oil rich neighbour Canada. Oil in not too distant future will be sold @ less than $10 per barrel (I may be exaggerating abit).

I wouldn't declare you a hater because you probably lack the knowledge. Oil was 1st struck in Edda but was declared as not commercial. The next place was Owerri which was also declared as non-commercial. Oloibiri and Owaza were struck almost at the same time in the mid 50s and were declared as commercial. Why was Oloibiri and Owaza commercially viable? The deposit was large and it required less investment in pipelines to Bonny. If you can lay your hands on documents that pre-date 1970, you would know this. The civil war led to a lot of cover ups and twist of history.

All the pre 70s documents I've seen don't support this claim. Oil Exploration is different from Oil Dsicovery just like an OPL is not the same thing as an OML. Unfortunately the major document I have is hard copy but here's a link that supports my claim. Before discovery of oil, they should have prospected and its an ongoing activity.

And for me I'm not keen on oil because its not the energy of the future and you can't mine every oil field you discover because production is internationally regulated to ensure the prices are competitive. Large deposits of was discovered in Lagos and Ogun but why haven't they been mined? Also smaller countries along the West African coast are discovering oil, the US plans to mine it's oil and if Nigeria doesn't begin to refine its oil now, there will soon be no market for it as even China will build more energy efficient and plants which in some cases won't even require biofuel

And for me I'm not keen on oil because its not the energy of the future and you can't mine every oil field you discover because production is internationally regulated to ensure the prices are competitive. Also smaller countries along the West African coast are discovering oil, the US plans to mine it's oil and if Nigeria doesn't begin to refine its oil now, there will soon be no market for it as even China will build more energy efficient and plants which in some cases won't even require biofuel [/b]

You are right. No meaningful thinking Nigerian should plan our future with oil. In reality, with modern advanced mining technology oil could be struck in almost all the countries of the world making raw crude almost worthless. Posterity will never forgive our generation if we fail to free Nigeria from oil bondage.

You are right. No meaningful thinking Nigerian should plan our future with oil. In reality, with modern advanced mining technology oil could be struck in almost all the countries of the world making raw crude almost worthless. Posterity will never forgive our generation if we fail to free Nigeria from oil bondage.

I wouldn't declare you a hater because you probably lack the knowledge. Oil was 1st struck in Edda but was declared as not commercial. The next place was Owerri which was also declared as non-commercial. Oloibiri and Owaza were struck almost at the same time in the mid 50s and were declared as commercial. Why was Oloibiri and Owaza commercially viable? The deposit was large and it required less investment in pipelines to Bonny. If you can lay your hands on documents that pre-date 1970, you would know this. The civil war led to a lot of cover ups and twist of history.

They will never discover oil in ibo land..its just anoda propagandawe r not ready for anoda igbo militancy cos na dem go worst pass...already kidnapping is the order of d day..if dey no see oil, na war zone he go become